(In the absence of domestic Finnish football now until 2013, we will be looking at how some prominent Finns across Europe are up to)
When former Liverpool and Finland central defender Sami Hyypiä retired from playing football in 2011, he said that his plans to get his coaching license would mean 100% or nothing. He must have made a good impression, he was appointed caretaker manager in April 2012 after the sacking of Robin Dutt, and the club finished the Bundesliga season in fifth place.
Lord of the manor
During the summer of 2012, he was appointed as full-time manager, sharing the responsibilities with coach Sascha Lewandowski (Hyypiä has not yet qualified to be a sole manager). A bold move, but early indications are that it was the right move. Ten matches into the league season, Leverkusen are currently in fourth place - nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich, albeit after a poor start which saw the side lose at promoted Eintracht Frankfurt and champions Dortmund.
A promising start in the Europa League has also seen wins in Rosenborg and Vienna, but the club's ambition is to return to the Champions League, and Hyypiä is aware of that. In an interview with Bundesliga.com in pre-season, he acknowledged that the players got a taste last year, and want a return. Having kept Andre Schürrle and Lars Bender at the club, they are well placed.
Taking a training session
And so Leverkusen are now unbeaten in seven league games, in the last 16 of the DFB Pokal (where they travel to Wolfsburg) and are well placed to progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League. Some Liverpool forums have already championed the name of their former captain as a future manager, and he was very diplomatic when asked about the possibility when at Anfield for a friendly in August, when he praised Brendan Rodgers to the hilt.
Hyypiä is starting show that Germany is becoming a hotbed of young Finnish talent, and not just on the pitch. It's hard to imagine that he'd consider a return to Finland at this stage, but he's only 39, and has proved that the obvious step isn't the one he'll choose.
The final round of matches of the season begun in fields of freezing cold and snow. Winter is coming, and it while the main drama was at the foot of the table, things weren't 100% certain at the top. The mathematics were simple. An HJK win or draw in Jyväskylä would give them a fourth straight championship. If they lost by one goal, Inter would need to win at Honka by eight goals. Highly unlikely, and so it proved.
HJK had stumbled along this season, not leading for a lot of the year while Inter led the way. But the pretenders were dropping points, and HJK's experience and squad depth powered them through. Faced with a tricky finish at JJK, the snow and ice were cleared enough to allow the game to go ahead, and HJK flew out of the blocks, with three goals in the first twenty minutes, goals from Sebastian Mannström, Rasmus Schüller and Joel Pohjanpalo. The title was won, and they looked like they were enjoying themselves. They went 0-5 ahead in the second half, a smooth finish from Berat Sadik and a second for Pohjanpalo. JJK took advantage of some early celebrations, Antto Hilska got two goals in a minute, before another Sadik goal was answered with a third JJK goal by Topi Järvinen.
The proposed opening of the stands for the HJK fans went ahead, and only a few well behaved supporters reached the players, allaying fears of what was fearer to be an officially sanctioned pitch invasion. HJK were presented with their trophy, and start a new era next year under Sixten Boström, and hopefully a better showing in the 2013/14 Champions League.
Outgoing HJK boss Antti Muurinen
HJK's win made Inter's game at Honka fairly meaningless - They were guaranteed second place, as they were four points ahead of local rivals TPS. Cup winners Honka had no chance of reaching the top half of the table, but ended the season on a high with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Inter. Jussi Vasara gave them a first half lead, before goals from Mäkijärvi and Äijälä gave them the three points, and ensured Inter's season finished with a whimper. Irakli Sirbiladze couldn't add to his goal tally for the season, and ends on 17 goals (although there may be some complaints about his second at TPS in September). Mika Ojala said farewell to the Inter fans on Twitter after the game, he's set to move to Häcken in Sweden for 2013.
Koskinen gets in the way without much fight
Inter's silver medal
The foot of the table is where the drama of the day was (not that the Finnish broadcasters thought so, Kutonen showed JJK v HJK while Urho showed Honka v Inter). Jaro were the ones with the advantage, although only a point. They were visiting third placed TPS, whose own title ambitions drifted away due to some poor form when it mattered. The hosts took the lead after 41 minutes, Konsta Rasimus with his first goal from the club. But the lead didn't last long, Jaro equalised after a goal two minutes later from Thomas Kula, and Egyptian loan signing (from HJK) Sherif Ashraf scored his third goal in three games to win the match 2-1, and preserve Jaro's top flight status for another year. Their recent form wasn't too bad, winning three of the last six games, but they will need to improve hugely in 2013 to survive another season.
Jaro will be playing in the Veikkausliiga in 2013
TPS enjoy their bronze medals
Highlights of TPS 1-2 Jaro
Jaro's win meant that Haka were relegated no matter what. Haka had won their first match in three months last week, and started the day with a chance of staying up, but they had to rely on Jaro dropping points. Haka's visit to Vaasa was dangerous, knowing they had to win, but facing a team who had nothing to play for but pride. But the hosts were reduced to ten men on half an hour, with O'Brien Woodbine dismissed, shortly followed by a goal from Brazilian Dema, giving Haka the lead. Both teams had chances to score afterwards, but the match finished 0-1, and despite finishing 2012 with two wins, Haka will be playing in the Ykkönen next season.
The travelling Haka fans keep singing
Highlights of VPS 0-1 Haka
While the other two matches had little influence on titles, relegation or medals, they still provided excitement. This season's new boys Lahti have finished the season strongly, and will get an extra game in 2013 thanks to a top half finish. They confirmed fifth place with a 2-1 victory over a KuPS team who will just be glad the season is over. The Kuopio side took the lead with a goal from 17yr old Jerry Voutilainen, but Lahti took the points with goals from Nikolai Alho and Ngueukam. KuPS finish tenth, only four points ahead of Haka. At least they won't have any European football to distract them next year...
Alho celebrates his first goal
The final match was in Mariehamn, fourth placed IFK hosting MYPA. The visitors took the lead after just seven minutes, Pekka Sihvola's 14th goal of the season. But IFK hit back through Mattias Wiklöf on 26 minutes, and an early second half penalty from Aleksei Kangaskolkka. But MYPA equalised, Canadian Riley O'Neill's goal making it 2-2, and that's how it finished. IFK stay 4th, but MYPA dropped to sixth after Lahti's win.
Kangaskolkka puts his penalty away for goal number 16
Highlights of IFKM 2-2 MYPA
So that's the final round of matches, and a full season review will follow. HJK are the champions, Inter, TPS and Honka will enter the Europa League, while Haka will be playing in the second division in 2013, to be replaced by RoPS.
